Hantavirus Cruise Outbreak: Map Shows Where Ship Has Been

Hantavirus Cruise Outbreak: Map Shows Where Ship Has Been

Health authorities are investigating a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship that has left three passengers dead and several others ill. While the outbreak seems confined to the people on the ship, the ship's movements and the virus's incubation period have raised concerns about its potential to spread and have caused confusion about where it started.

The Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, was sailing from Ushuaia, Argentina, toward the Canary Islands when several passengers developed severe respiratory symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it doesn't believe there's a risk to the public, but ports have denied permission for the ship to dock, leaving 150 passengers stuck on the cruise amid the outbreak.

Investigators are working to determine where and how the virus entered the ship and whether limited human-to-human transmission may have occurred.

The vessel at the center of the outbreak is the MV Hondius, a small expedition cruise ship carrying about 150 passengers and crew from more than 20 countries, according to the WHO and the ship’s operator. The WHO said it had identified seven cases linked to the ship, including two laboratory‑confirmed infections and five suspected cases. Three people have died, including a German passenger who died on the ship, a Dutch man who became ill and died onboard, and his wife, who later died after disembarking and traveling to South Africa. Only she is confirmed to have had hantavirus at this point.

The ship departed Ushuaia on April 1, embarking on a polar expedition that included stops in Antarctica, South Georgia, Saint Helena and Ascension Island, before arriving off the coast of Cape Verde in early May. Foster Mohale, a spokesperson for the National Department of Health in South Africa, said the ship also stopped at Nightingale Island and Tristan da Cunha.

Authorities in Cape Verde refused to allow the ship to dock, citing public‑health concerns, and passengers have largely remained confined to their cabins while medical evacuations were coordinated.

On Monday, Oceanwide said it was considering sailing to Las Palmas or Tenerife in Spain as a place for passengers to disembark and for further medical screening and handling.

Hantavirus is known for causing severe, often life‑threatening illness, most commonly hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the Americas. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early symptoms typically include fatigue, fever, and muscle aches, particularly in large muscle groups such as the thighs, hips, and back.

About half of patients also develop headaches, dizziness, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or abdominal pain, the CDC says. Several days later, the disease can rapidly progress, with patients experiencing shortness of breath and coughing as the lungs fill with fluid, a hallmark of HPS. 

The CDC estimates that about 38 percent of patients who develop respiratory symptoms may die from the disease.

Hantaviruses are primarily carried by rodents and are transmitted to humans through contact with infected urine, droppings or saliva, often when dried particles become airborne and are inhaled, the CDC explains. The Hondius has said there were no rodents aboard, so the WHO is investigating whether a passenger contracted the virus on one of the islands and then transmitted it to another person.

"Our working hypothesis is that there's probably a couple of different types of transmission that might be happening," WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove told the BBC.

The WHO has also noted that while person‑to‑person transmission is rare, one strain—the Andes virus, found in South America—has been documented to spread between close contacts in limited circumstances, raising questions about whether human transmission could have played a role on the ship.

Globally, different hantavirus strains circulate in different regions. In North and South America, hantaviruses most often cause pulmonary disease, while strains in Europe and Asia can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which primarily affects the kidneys.

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